Lovestruckk
by Alecksaurus Rex
Summary: Meet Naruto, the cheery, likable new kid in town with an internationally famous past. And then there's Sasuke, the brooding loner with a badass attitude. Of course the two hate each other the second they meet. But opposites attract, right?
1. Hellos and Strange Strangers

**A/N: Wahhh! My first Naruto fanfiction! Sorry if the characters are a bit OOC in any part of this story (mainly Iruka and possibly Naruto...? Yeah)**

**So I'm gonna be up front about the warnings. There will be cursing, blood, smut (it'll take a while, but it'll get there, I promise), mild violence, plus anything else that might pop up sometime later.**

* * *

><p><strong>Hellos and Strange Strangers<strong>

"_You treat me just like another stranger. Well, it's nice to meet you, sir. I guess I'll go; I'd best be on my way out."_

_Paramore, "Ignorance"_

Naruto slammed the trunk closed on the car and made his way to the passenger side, flopping down in the seat and running his hands over his face. He'd hardly gotten any of the sleep he'd been told to get, and he knew he needed it, but he just couldn't do it; his mind wouldn't allow it. Too much had happened too quickly, and now his life in this town was a disaster. Just like his past lives in his previous towns. All that he cared about now was leaving this place—and the memories it held—far, far behind him.

He started a little when a firm, but gentle hand came down on his shoulder, and he turned to look up into dark black eyes in a tan face framed with dark brown hair.

"Your hair is down," Naruto muttered lamely, stating the obvious.

The man next to him laughed and mussed Naruto's spiky blonde locks. "You didn't get any sleep like I told you to, did you?" he inquired. The teen shook his head, and he sighed. "Make sure you get some sleep on the road, okay? We have some places we need to go when we get to our new home."

The blonde let his head fall against the window. "Yes, Iruka…." He was snoring in less than a minute.

Iruka smiled indulgently at the sight, trying in vain to smooth the boy's hair. "Get some rest; you'll need it." Iruka backed out of the gravel driveway with a heavy sigh. He'd actually liked this town, and he'd wanted to stay a little longer. However, Naruto's past had eventually caught up with them, and there was no way they could just stay here and hope for the best. It would endanger both of them.

In an effort to dispel the dark thoughts, he turned up the stereo, not worrying about it being too loud because the blonde slept like the dead. For a moment, nothing played, and Iruka glanced at the rectangular screen in confusion. And then loud, screeching, bass guitars were blaring from the car speakers, causing him to jump and curse. He shot a dirty look at the slumbering body in the passenger seat. That was the last time he'd ever let Naruto drive his car; the blonde was always changing his CDs. He frowned and pulled it out, glancing at the cover art and rolling his eyes. My Chemical Romance—of course. He slipped in his favorite classical CD, _From the Yellow Room _by Yiruma, and carefully put Naruto's CD in the freed case. Naruto would kill him if he scratched up his favorite CD.

As he drove down the nearly deserted streets, he picked up his cup of coffee, taking a careful sip. It was just after two in the morning, and he could feel his eyes prickling, begging for the sweet release of sleep. He knew that he needed to snap out of it. They had a long drive ahead of them, and there was no way that they would have been able to get anywhere if they'd traveled in the daylight; they would have been found. He glanced over nervously at Naruto. He had to do whatever was in his power to keep him safe; he'd promised himself, as well as the blonde, that he would never let anything happen to him, and their was no way that he was going to break his promise anytime soon. He returned his attention to the moonlit road in front of him, turning up the volume once again to drown the dangerous thoughts that wanted to drag him into the pits of misery.

Naruto awoke when they were about an hour away from their destination, stretching and yawning loudly, the bones in his back popping. He glanced over at his guardian and frowned. "Hey, pull over, alright?"

Iruka looked over at him sleepily. "Bathroom break?"

"Nah, but you look like crap—no offense. Maybe you should let me drive."

The brunette shook his head. "No, we're almost there, and besides, you don't even know where we're going, so I'd have to stay up anyway."

Naruto sighed and leaned back in his seat, staring out the window and noticing that it was really bright outside. "How long have we been on the road, anyway?" he asked, remembering that it had been pitch black when they'd left their previous town.

Iruka yawned. "Ah, a little over eight hours."

Naruto's cyan eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Eight hours!" Had he really been asleep for that long? He glanced at the clock; it read 10:08. Leaning back again, he asked, "So where exactly are we going?"

"Somewhere called Konohagakure," Iruka said in a tired voice.

Naruto frowned in confusion. He was half Japanese, and from the little Iruka had taught him of the language, he could understand what the name of that town meant; who the hell named a town "The Village Hidden in the Leaves"? He shrugged to himself. Maybe they had a lot of trees or something.

He realized that this was the understatement of the century when Iruka stopped the car, and all that greeted them was what looked to be miles and miles of trees. He gulped a bit.

Iruka, seemingly unfazed, hoped out of the car and made a beeline for the trunk.

"Um…Iruka?"

Iruka peered at him from around the car as he pulled the trunk open. "Yes?"

"How exactly are we going to get to the town?"

Iruka sighed. "Well, it's not really a town…. I mean, the name is actually quite literal."

Naruto glanced back over his shoulder in surprise. He was going to stay in an actual village? Did that mean that they didn't have electricity or something? That wouldn't work at all; he needed electricity.

The brunette caught the apprehensive, slightly panicked expression on the blonde's face and rolled his eyes, already knowing what he was thinking. "Don't worry; it has everything that any town or city would. The only difference is that it's not as populated and it's so small that it doesn't even show up on most maps."

Naruto raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Then how did you find it?"

Iruka yanked Naruto's duffle bag out of the trunk before making for his suitcase. "I have a friend that lives here; he told me all about it and said that it would be the perfect place for us to hide out for a while." He tossed the duffle bag to its owner, grabbed their bag of toiletries, and slammed the trunk closed.

Naruto noticed that Iruka hadn't answered his previous question. "So how do we get there?" he asked again.

Iruka opened his mouth to answer, but he was interrupted by the sound of a horn. He glanced to his left, smiled, and nodded to the small car waiting for them. "That's how."

….

"I still don't see why we couldn't have taken our car," Naruto was grumbling about fifteen minutes later.

The brunette rolled his eyes. "I told you our car was too big for the conventional entrance; someone will take it to the carport for us."

Naruto turned back to the window, mumbling something about the driver stealing his CDs. Iruka rolled his eyes again.

When they made it to the main gate, Naruto felt his jaw drop in complete shock. There was no way that a village had a gate that huge and intricately designed. Where had they even gotten the funding for something like that? This was insane.

The driver chuckled. "This is nothing compared to the inside," she said, taking a swig of what both men in the back seat fervently hoped was soda. She turned and grinned at them, winking. "Now, get out," she said in a playful tone, jerking her head toward the enormous gate. Naruto couldn't help but wonder how her spiky purple ponytail retained its shape when it moved so freely in the wind.

And then something she said caught his attention. "Wait…so you're not going to drive us inside?"

She downed the rest of her suspicious drink before turning around to give him a not-so-polite onceover. "You too lazy to walk, kid?"

The blonde blinked, taken aback by her sudden change of demeanor. "Uh…I…."

Iruka sighed and opened his door. "The streets aren't wide enough to accommodate cars," he explained, concluding that the driver was most likely drunk. "Come on, we have places to go once we get inside."

Naruto grumbled incomprehensible complaints under his breath but got out of the car nonetheless. The second their things were free from the car, the woman drove off, tires squealing in protest to her sharp turns and kicking up mud in their wake. The teen scowled. "Well, isn't she charming?"

"Grab your stuff," Iruka called over his shoulder, already making his way to the entrance.

"Yeah, yeah," was Naruto's brilliant response.

When they reached the entrance, the guards asked for a hell of a lot of paperwork that Iruka already had filled out. One of the guards, a brunette man with an abnormally long toothpick wedged between his teeth took one look at his name on the lease, glanced up at him, and then chuckled. He then looked at Iruka, a more serious expression on his face, his eyebrow raised.

"You know, don't you?" he asked in voice so low that Naruto could barely hear it.

The blonde couldn't make out Iruka's mumbled answer, but whatever it was, it made the guard step aside, though he continued to watch Naruto as he made his way through the door. He didn't know why, but something about the way the guard looked at him made him uneasy, set him on edge…. Naruto had the feeling that the guard and Iruka knew something that he didn't…something important.

The thought was pushed from his mind when he heard someone yell Iruka's name. He turned to watch a tall, skinny man who seemed to be somewhere close to thirty walk up to them. It must have been the old friend that had referred Iruka to this village. Naruto found his eyes widening in shock.

It wasn't his shock of startlingly spiky silver hair or even the fact that he had one black eye and another that was completely covered by a navy blue bandana that held Naruto's attention; it was the fact that he had a mask covering the entire bottom half of his face. There was a little voice in the back of his mind, telling him that it was rude to stare, but he couldn't help but ignore it's warning—or rather, he couldn't seem find the controls to his body anywhere in his brain to listen to it.

A wide grin nearly split Iruka's face in two. "Kakashi!" he said, his bags dropping to the ground, his arms spread wide, ready to embrace his old friend.

Kakashi smiled back—or at least Naruto thought he did; his eye scrunched up like he was, even though he couldn't see his mouth.

Naruto watched as Iruka hugged the newcomer a little too tightly. Naruto vaguely remembered Iruka talking about some long-lost schoolyard crush from high school; this must have been who he was talking about. Kakashi must have been thinking the same thing because he stiffened slightly, pulled away and averted his eyes. Naruto understood; he didn't want to see the disappointment in Iruka's eyes, either.

There was a short moment of awkwardness where no one said anything, and then Kakashi glanced around at him. He saw something that looked like recognition flash in his visible eye, but before he could say anything, someone else called toward them.

"Kakashi! Iruka!"

All three males turned to see a dark-haired man with a beard and a cigarette held between his lips and a woman with jet black hair and eyes red enough to rival an apple. Purple hair? Red eyes? What the hell was _with_ the people in this place?

Iruka smiled gently, though the hurt was still brewing behind his eyes. They both slapped hands with Cigarette Man and hugged Red Eye Woman.

Cigarette Man glanced over at him, a grin on his face as he extended his hand. "Asuma Sarutobi," he said. "Nice to meet you."

Naruto shook the hand and blurted the first thing that came to his mind. The wrong thing. "Naruto Uzumaki," he said, flinching mentally when he'd realized what had come out of his mouth. He'd never given anyone his real name before, but something about this place…it made him feel like he was already at home; he'd spoken without thinking.

Asuma raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't comment on his name like the teen had expected him to. Instead, he gestured to the woman that was sort-of-but-sort-of-not smiling at him. Her eyes were doing all of the work; her mouth hadn't moved a bit. "This is Kurenai Yuhi," he said, his eyes sparkling a bit as he said her name. Naruto immediately recognized him as one of those guys that were easily embarrassed about his romantic life, but wasn't very good at hiding it. He could tell because Iruka was like that.

Kurenai blushed at the look on Asuma's face and shook hands with Naruto.

There was another moment of awkward silence.

"So…," Naruto said trying to break the tension, "how do you all know Iruka?"

Iruka stiffened. "We all went to the same high school," he said through rigid lips. Naruto was about to ask what was wrong, but Iruka spoke over him. "We live in the Western Division of the village—why don't you go check with the landlord to see which one is ours?" He sounded rushed, urgent. It was the way he sounded when he was going out of his way to hide something. "You can go wherever you like for about an hour; then we really have somewhere to be."

Naruto locked eyes with his guardian for a short moment, letting him know that he knew he was keeping something from him. Iruka stared back, lips pressed together, eyes hard as stone. He wasn't giving whatever it was away, not without a fight, and now wasn't really the time for that.

The blonde tossed his duffle bag over his shoulder and grabbed the bag of toiletries from the ground at Iruka's feet. He turned on his heel and stomped off without another word or a backward glance.

* * *

><p>The apartment they were staying in wasn't very big, but it was big enough to accommodate comfortable stay for two people whose belongings didn't take up much space. He helped himself to a tour around the place: a tiny, walk-through kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living area big enough to fit the couch and television only, and a balcony that over saw the entire village.<p>

When he had first heard that they were staying in a village, he had thought of some kind of small, tribe-looking place. Konohagakure was far from his expectations. It was huge, bigger than any village he had ever heard of or seen in textbooks. Sure, it wasn't as big as a city, but it was darn close. It was small enough to feel homely, but just big enough not to be claustrophobic. He could easily find himself falling in love with this place.

He tossed his duffle bag into the smaller of the two rooms, grabbed a towel and the soap and made his way to the bathroom to shower. Eight hours of travel had left an uncomfortable gritty feeling on his skin that he didn't like at all.

When that was finished, he padded back to his room and pulled out his favorite orange sweat pants and a white t-shirt. He glanced at his jacket, lying forlorn across his naked bed. It wasn't cold outside, so he didn't need it; but it would feel weird wearing the sweatpants without it. He knew it was ridiculous, but he stood there for at least fifteen minutes, contemplating whether or not to wear the jacket. He decided that he would tie it around his waist, just for the comfort of it being there.

He tucked one key in his jacket pocket and slid the other on top of the door frame since they didn't have a door mat yet. He then took off down the street, whistling a familiar tune. He knew he was most likely way off key, but that didn't really bother him; he usually was.

After about twenty minutes of aimless walking, he was beginning to get bored. The village was beautiful and all, with its tiny family-owned shops, decorative foliage on the balconies, cafés bustling with people…. He'd bought himself a bowl of ramen at a place called Ichiraku's (he'd have to remember that for later reference; he absolutely loved ramen) and a new frog-shaped wallet from some needy-looking old man on the street so that he wouldn't have to carry his money around in his pocket, but there was only so much he could do with twenty bucks. He turned to go back home, but he realized that he had no idea which way home was. He hadn't exactly been watching where he'd been going.

It was then that he saw a group of kids around his age, one lying leisurely across a park bench while the others sat on the asphalt in a circle in front of him, seeming to be having quite the discussion. He couldn't make out what they were saying, and without really noticing what he was doing, he inched closer to them. After a moment of listening, he realized they were arguing about bands. They had split off into two sides: Green Day and Paramore. Or rather, one had split off from the rest of the group.

"Paramore's lyrics have more meaningful messages," a blonde with more hair than he had ever seen protested. The majority of it spilled over her back and rested on the ground, some was pulled back into a ponytail, the rest hung over one of her brilliant sea-blue eyes. Naruto couldn't help but admire her appearance. She was skinny, but had figure; her clothes seemed to fit her just right—her skinny jeans hugged her legs in a way just subtle enough not to seem vain, her thin white shirt hanging just so off her shoulder, a royal blue tank top underneath.

A different girl, who obviously favored Green Day, scowled. "You're so stupid, Ino," she sneered. "Green Day's lyrics have just as much meaning as Paramore's. Plus, they have better sound." She was just as tiny, but not as shapely as the other girl (whose name was apparently Ino). She wore a bright red shirt that should have clashed with her shoulder-length, bubble gum pink hair—but amazingly, it didn't—and loose white shorts that seemed dangerously close to falling. Her clothes didn't fit her as tightly, but honestly, they shouldn't have; it would have just emphasized how little curves she had. Her beauty was far more subtle than Ino's. She even looked pretty with her vibrant green eyes narrowed in irritation.

Ino slapped the chubby boy sitting next to her on the arm. "Hey," she snapped, "tell Billboard Brow that Paramore is way better."

The boy she'd slapped was a large brunette with rosy, cherubic cheeks and more hair than normal for boy, looked up from the bag of potato chips he'd been devouring. He wiped his hand on his jeans and stood, smoothing his plain white t-shirt. "I honestly don't have a side to take," he said. "I think they're both pretty cool." Obviously, he was a pretty smart kid; he knew better than to take sides when both girls were glaring at him like PMSing lionesses.

"I kind of like Green Day better," the girl next to "Billboard Brow" spoke up. She blushed and looked down at the ground, twiddling her fingers. She was a quite the looker as well. Her long, thick hair was a rather odd shade of black, almost on the verge of purplish-blue. She had a white and lilac jacket tied around her waist, a black shirt with the Yin and Yang symbol clinging tightly to her body, emphasizing her large chest. Her jeans hugged her as tightly as Ino's did, though hers flared at the bottom, hiding the heels of her flip-flop-clad feet. Her hair was hiding her face, so Naruto couldn't tell what color her eyes were.

Ino turned on her like she was about to yell at her, but something about the girl's expression seemed to stop her. "Honestly, you two don't have any good taste in music at all."

"I prefer Green Day as well," a boy Naruto hadn't even noticed interjected. He was leaning against a tree in a dark green hoodie, baggy jeans, and black combat boots. He had on a black hat and sunglasses, so Naruto couldn't really see much of his face; there was barely any of it showing.

"_Thank you_," Billboard Brow, the pink-haired one, said, sticking her tongue out at Ino, who blushed furiously.

"Oh shut up!" Ino snapped. "Kiba!" she barked over her shoulder.

Kiba—a brunette with hair spiky enough to rival Naruto's clad in a white "Hugs, Not Drugs" shirt, loose-fitting skinny jeans, and black Converse—glanced up from the puppy he had been playing with. "Yeah?"

"Green Day or Paramore?"

Kiba snorted. "Green Day, duh," he answered simply before he returned to the tug-of-war between him and his pet.

Ino let out of growl of frustration. "Shikamaru," she whined, hoping to get at least one valid ally.

Shikamaru, the boy who had been lounging on the park bench, rolled halfway over to stare blearily at Ino. "I'm not getting in this," he muttered. He yawned and scratched his head before redoing his spiky ponytail he'd messed up. He was wearing a form-fitting army green shirt with a simple symbol on the back of it—a circle with a line going straight down the middle—loose jeans, and gray, new-looking Vans. His light brown eyes were tired and his eyelids drooped, dangerously close to closing.

Ino pouted and looked around, trying desperately to find someone to recruit to her side. That was when she finally noticed Naruto. She pointed at him. "You!" she barked. "Green Day or Paramore?"

Everyone except Shikamaru, who appeared to have gone back to sleep, and Kiba, who was still engrossed in his game, turned to stare at Naruto expectantly. He wasn't sure what was weirder: the fact that they didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that he had obviously been eavesdropping on their whole conversation or the fact that they were actually asking him to join it. He blushed at the attention and scratched the back of his head. He wasn't in any hurry to die, but…. "I don't think you really want me to answer that," he said.

For some reason, he couldn't understand, everyone started laughing, including Kiba; even Shikamaru, who didn't look like the type for laughing, let out a low chuckle of his own (he hadn't gone to sleep after all). Ino, however, jumped up and stomped off, her out-of-season black snow boots making virtually no noise as they slammed down on the concrete of the sidewalk. He found himself snickering a bit at her overreaction.

The chubby one, who had sometime taken refuge under the shade of a tree asked, "So what's your name? You have to be new here because we know all the kids here our age." He opened another bag of chips, and Naruto couldn't help but wonder where they had come from.

Shikamaru rolled completely over and propped himself up on his elbow, keenly watching as Naruto contemplated whether or not to give them his real name.

"Naruto," he finally answered. "Naruto Uzumaki." He glanced away, all of a sudden very interested in the bickering squirrels in the tree above Nearly-Faceless's head.

Everyone but Shikamaru stiffened for a short moment as they all thought the same thing: had they really heard him right? Was he really _the_ Naruto Uzumaki?

"Cool name," Shikamaru finally answered, effectively breaking the tension. "You were named after the city, right? The one in Japan?"

To say that Naruto was surprised would have been an understatement. He blinked a couple of times…then a couple more…and another, but yet, he still couldn't formulate an articulate answer through his shock. There was hardly anyone—no, scratch that. _No one_ he'd ever met had swallowed that information whole like that, and yet Shikamaru had just brushed it off to the side like it was nothing but any old regular name, like it had no meaning at all. Then he remembered that Iruka's friends had done the same. They hadn't been fazed by it either.

The people in this town were getting stranger and stranger.

Ignoring Naruto's mini freak-out, Shikamaru went on. He nodded to the chubby one under the tree. "That's Chouji,"—then to Kiba—"Kiba,"—the blushing girl—"Hinata,"—Billboard Brow—"Sakura,"—Nearly Faceless—"and Shino. The one that stomped off is Ino, and I'm Shikamaru." Everyone waved and forced smiles as their names were called.

This bewildered him even further. No, they weren't uncaring about his identity like Shikamaru, but they were trying to pretend they were. That had never happened before. He'd half expected them to glare at him in disgust and tell him to go away and never talk to them again. That's what all of his other "friends" had done when they'd discovered who he was.

"Hinata," someone called from behind them, and everyone turned to watch as three teenagers that looked to be around their age walked up. The one that had spoken had pale skin, long brown hair and a lean build. His black button down shirt contrasted nicely with his skin and was rolled up to expose his muscular forearms. His dark jeans didn't look cheap at all, and neither did his gray loafers. He had a slightly arrogant, unapproachable aura surrounding him that instantly sparked Naruto's irritation.

The other two looked nice enough. The female had brown hair that she kept pulled up in two buns on tope of her head. She wore a pint tank top and a frilly black mini skirt with black flip-flops. The proximity between her and the speaker suggested that they were dating.

The other was tall and rail-thin and black-haired with a terrible bowl-shaped haircut and dressed in a deep green tracksuit—the kind that no one wore anymore. His eyes were almost bulging, his eyebrows bushier than any he'd ever seen, and he wore a wide, friendly grin. Naruto kind of felt sorry for him; he looked like one of those nice guys that were always laughed at behind their back because they were sort of dorks.

"Your father told us to come get you," Mr. Arrogant (that was Naruto's name for him until he learned his real one and maybe even after he did) said, looking only at Hinata. "Apparently, Hanabi is sick, and your father has a business meeting to go to. He needs you to watch her until he gets back."

Without a word, Hinata stood, brushed nonexistent grains of dirt off her backside and waved to her friends. She glanced hesitantly at Naruto and blushed again before looking away.

It was then that Naruto noticed something: Hinata and Mr. Arrogant had the weirdest colored eyes. They were both a light, almost clear shade of lavender that he'd never seen before in his life. They _had_ to be related somehow.

Mr. Arrogant followed his relative's gaze, and raised his eyebrows at Naruto. He opened his mouth to say something, but Shikamaru spoke over him.

"Neji, this is Naruto."

Neji held out his hand, something unidentifiable lurking behind his pupil-less eyes. "Nice to meet you," he said stiffly. "I'm Neji, and this is Ten-Ten and Lee." He gestured to the two standing behind him.

Naruto was tempted to point out that Shikamaru had just said his name, but he held his tongue. "Nice to meet you too," Naruto said, talking more to the others than he was to Neji. Naruto's eyes flickered between Neji and Hinata, trying to find some kind of resemblance other than their eyes.

Neji smiled—was Naruto just imagining the mocking edge to it? "We're cousins," he said, answering the obvious question floating around in Naruto's head. He looked around at everyone else, waved, then walked off, Ten-Ten, Lee, and Hinata trailing behind him.

Naruto watched them leave, frowning.

Shino caught the look on his face and said, "Don't hold it against him; he's actually a really nice guy once you get to know him."

Naruto snorted. That guy? Nice? Yeah right, and his favorite color was pink. Not likely.

"No, really," Sakura piped up. "He is."

Before Naruto could reply, his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He didn't have to look at the Caller ID to know that it was Iruka. He flipped it open. "Yeah?"

"Meet me back at the apartment. We have somewhere to go."

"'Kay," he said. The line went dead. "I gotta go," he said to his new sort-of friends. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, right?"

Everyone smiled and said their respective goodbyes, but he caught a look Shikamaru and Kiba exchanged that he wasn't sure he was supposed to. They were smiling at him in a way that left a sense of apprehension in his belly. But maybe that was just him being paranoid. These people had accepted him even after learning his name. There was no way they'd screw him over like everyone else.

He let out a calming breath. Right, everything would be fine. He had friends now. Naruto couldn't help but grin as he jogged off in the direction he hoped his apartment was. He actually had friends here. _Real_ ones that accepted him, bad reputation and all. He could get used to life in Konoha.

* * *

><p>He was going to punch someone. Really, he was. Hopefully, it would be one of the old bags of bones sitting in that room. He had to keep thinking of his favorite things to calm him down. He fumed about what he had heard in the Hokage's room (the village's leader was called the Hokage for some odd reason).<p>

"_He's a danger to this entire village," the old man (he'd forgotten his name as soon as it was spoken) was saying._

_Tsunade (he remembered her name because she was the only one not irritating him), glared at him. "I don't see him as a danger at all," she protested, her honey brown eyes narrowed. She tossed one of her long blonde ponytails over her shoulder and straightened her shirt, concealing her plethora of cleavage. "How in the world would they find this place? It's not even on any maps you can get anywhere but one of our corresponding village. What, do you think they're going to comb every little place in the world looking for him? I don't think so."_

_Iruka stiffened next to him at Tsunade's words. She had obviously said something that Naruto wasn't supposed to know. "Lady Tsunade," he whispered._

_Tsunade jumped at the sound of his voice, having forgotten that they were there. When she saw the confused look on Naruto's face, she gasped. "I'm so sorry," she said. _

_Iruka sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Naruto, you should leave."_

_Naruto leapt out of his seat. "The hell I am!" He glowered defiantly at his guardian, who stared back with steely eyes. "I want to know whatever it is you're hiding from me."_

"_No."_

"_Why—"_

"_Naruto," Tsunade interrupted, "you'll find out eventually, just not right now. Go out and enjoy the village. Make some new friends."_

And he had listened.

So now he was shuffling down the street, kicking stray rocks out of his way. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the couple walking in front of him until he smacked right into them.

"Ow," he muttered as he bounced back, rubbing his nose. "Sorry about that."

"Oh, don't worry about it," the lady said, adjusting a cooing toddler on her hip. She then asked if he wanted to buy a peach from her, holding out a basket of the biggest peaches in the world (maybe not, but they were still pretty huge).

He bought three since they were only a dollar each. He thanked her and then walked away.

The people in this town were so friendly, oddly so. But he couldn't really complain. It was kind of nice.

* * *

><p>Sasuke flipped open his ringing phone, muting the television he wasn't really watching. "What is it?"<p>

"So we're going to have a new kid at school tomorrow." The voice sounded amused, excited.

Sasuke chuckled to himself, running a hand through his spiked, jet-black hair, his onyx eyes glinting with mischief. "Then I guess we'd better give him a proper welcome."

* * *

><p><strong>So, what do you think? Should I continue it? It's odd writing a story that isn't a one-shot for something that isn't Bleach. Now I'm not gonna wanna go back to those...But I will. Enough of my babbling. Review! (Unless, of course, you don't want to, which is totally cool)<strong>

**~Burns**


	2. Initiation Part I: The Fun Begins

**Initiation Part I: The Fun Begins**

"_They're gonna clean up your looks with all the lies in the books to make a citizen out of you."_

"_Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance_

The obnoxiously shrill ringing of Naruto's alarm clock rudely heralded the morning of his first day of school. The sleepy blonde groaned and slammed his hand down on the snooze button before curling himself back up in his sheets to escape the coldness of the rest of the bed. He had no clue what time it was, but whatever it may be, it was far too early to grace with his consciousness.

He was nearly asleep once more when the smell of freshly cooked bacon wafted through his slightly ajar door. The deliciously appealing scent alone was enough to propel him out of bed. He dashed to the tiny living room and found Iruka standing in the kitchenette at the sink, washing the only skillet they had. Two plates had been set at the island separating the living room from the kitchen. The one that was nearly overflowing with food was obviously Naruto's, and the one with considerably less was Iruka's. Naruto's eyes immediately zeroed in on the food.

Iruka smirked as he heard Naruto's heavy footsteps behind him, but didn't turn. Without looking, he knew that Naruto had leapt out of bed in nothing but his boxers…again. "Pants, shirt, and then food," he said, rinsing and drying the skillet before stowing it in its respective cabinet.

Naruto groaned and trudged back to his room. Iruka just loved to torture him, didn't he?

He came back five minutes later, flopping down in his seat, his mouth watering. For a few moments, the pair ate in silence, the only sound coming from the morning news flashing its headlines across the screen and the generic woman reporter's voice. Naruto found himself glancing curiously at his guardian a few times as they ate; it wasn't like Iruka to be so quiet during mealtimes. He usually never shut up.

Once, Iruka glanced back at him. He looked quickly away, but it was too late; Naruto had already seen the worry and turmoil swirling around in the coal black eyes.

"Iruka?" he asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"

Iruka sighed, setting his fork and knife down, though he had scarcely touched his food. "I don't want you worrying about that on your first day of school," he hedged.

Naruto's still sleep-fogged brain did not allow for emotion control, and to his surprise—and Iruka's—Naruto found himself scowling. "Why am I not allowed to know? It's about me, isn't it? I _deserve _to know!"

Iruka hung his head, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. It was only seven thirty, and he was already developing a migraine. "I don't want to worry you about it until we have the whole story. I'm going to find out _exactly _what's going on, and then I'll tell you, okay?"

As quickly as it came, Naruto's anger evaporated. "Fine," he said, tired all over again. "What time does school start?"

Iruka began shuffling his eggs around on his plate. "Eight fifty."

Naruto glanced back at the clock and cursed. He had a lot of crap to do in such a short amount of time, and that didn't even include the fifteen minute walk to the school. He shot out of his chair and dashed to the bathroom.

Iruka's lips twitched, and he glanced at his watch. "Four…three…two…."

A loud profanity could be heard from the bathroom. Naruto had forgotten to unpack all of the towels.

…

Despite having gotten up just a little late, Naruto managed to make it out of the house at a fairly decent time. He had to jog the whole way, yeah, but he could use the exercise. Jogging a few blocks wouldn't kill him.

Konoha High School was a lot bigger than Naruto had expected it to be, considering that the population wasn't all that large. It was pristine, all glass and shiny tile, as if it had been recently built. It actually looked more like a college than a high school, but Iruka had said that was because all the schools—preschool, elementary, and middle—were all on the same campus, but with different buildings. However, they somehow managed to share the food court. It was beyond baffling to him, but Iruka hadn't even been fazed by it, like all schools in the world functioned like that.

He popped the cap on his water bottle and took a huge gulp of it, in desperate need of oxygen. Just as he made it to the campus, a trio of kids zipped past him. They all looked to be elementary school kids, if their high-pitched and somewhat nasally voices were no indication.

"Come on, you guys! We're gonna miss early morning dodgeball!" the brunette in the front called to his friends, who were both a substantial distance behind him.

"Slow down, Konohamaru!" a ginger girl with freckles and rosy cheeks yelled back, a bespeckled boy with a runny nose in tow.

Konohamaru scowled and stopped, tapping his foot impatiently.

Naruto couldn't help but snicker as he passed the impatient child. He was obviously the Alvin of the group*****.

He gave himself a tour around the outside while he looked for the high school courtyard. He frowned, realizing he'd need a map if he didn't want to get lost on this monster of a campus.

He finally found what he was looking for; the group of kids he found yesterday was sitting around one of the many tables the courtyard had to offer. He flopped down in the chair next to Sakura with a huge grin on his face.

Shikamaru glanced up at the newcomer as he licked chocolate frosting off his thumb, a half-eaten doughnut sitting on the table in front of him. "Hey, Naruto," he greeted with a smirk. "It's about time you got here; we all thought you were going to be late on your first day." He pushed the sleeves of his camouflage jacket up to his elbow to scratch at his forearm.

"Sorry," Naruto said, his grin belying his apology. "I woke up late."

Sakura stood a bit to reach across the table, coming back with a box of doughnuts. "You hungry?" she asked, her vivid green eyes filled with something akin to motherly concern.

Naruto shook his head, shoving his backpack under the table. "Nah, I ate at home."

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "You slept in late, but still managed to eat breakfast at home?" he demanded, reaching for another doughnut until Ino glanced up from her cell phone to smack his hand away.

"You've already had three," she scolded. "Save some for the others; we're not all here yet."

"But Chouji had five!"

Ino sighed in annoyance. "Yeah, but he's Chouji. He gets exceptions."

Kiba scowled and leaned back in his seat with an angry "tch."

"Go ahead and let him have one," Shino interceded. "They don't eat much, anyway."

Kiba grinned triumphantly and snagged one before Ino could formulate a protest, earning him a smack on the head. He looked scandalized.

Before the two could break out into an all-out brawl, there was a quiet, "Hello everyone" from behind them. Naruto glanced up from the spectacle in time to watch Hinata and two other teens he didn't know—a brunette male and a blonde female—pull up chairs as others scooted around to make room. Sakura, too, scooted her chair away, and for some reason, everyone chose that moment to stare expectantly at Naruto, who couldn't help fidgeting uncomfortably.

He was about to ask why everyone was staring at when Neji flopped down in the spot Sakura had vacated and another redheaded boy with thickly layered eyeliner sat down on his other side, both glaring daggers at him. Naruto stiffened. This was the kind of reaction he was used to getting from people that knew his true identity. His eyes narrowed.

Suddenly, a foot came down hard on the back of his chair, jolting him forward. He had to slam his hands down on the table to keep his face from smashing into it.

"You're in my seat, loser," a smooth, baritone voice said from behind him.

Naruto glared over his shoulder, finding that there was a pale, dark-haired male standing behind him, his foot still planted securely on the chair, arms crossed, and cold, obsidian eyes full of distain. "I don't see your name on it, asshole." The words caused a collective hitch of breath to run around the table.

A thin, black brow rose, and then the asshole smirked, letting out a short chuckle (Naruto noticed that he was actually rather good-looking when he was making a pleasant expression). He stepped back, and for a fleeting moment, Naruto thought that he was backing off.

How wrong he was.

Before he realized what was happening, Neji and the guy with the eyeliner had grabbed hold of his chair and flipped it over so that he tumbled backward onto the slightly damp grass with a loud shout of "Mother fuck—!" His back hit the ground hard, as did his head, making little white spots dance across his vision. He felt his backpack drop onto his stomach as the jackass stepped over him, claiming the seat Naruto had been thrown out of.

He glanced back at the dazed blonde. "Hn," was all he said before reaching over and snatching a frosted doughnut with custard filling from the box of pastries.

Hinata gasped and stood, horror and concern flashing across her features. "Oh, Neji, Gaara…you guys didn't have to do that…. Are you alright, Naruto?" Everyone gave Hinata pointed looks, and she blushed and settled back down in her seat, thoroughly embarrassed.

Naruto grunted, blinking a couple of times to clear his vision, and sat up. He then slowly got to his feet, carefully, as if to make sure he wasn't going to fall over. "'M fine," he muttered, glowering at the trio of bullies. His eyes flickered around the table, noticing that they were all giving him odd looks, like they were waiting on something. His eyebrow twitched in confusion, but he took a deep, calming breath and forced a smile. "I'll see you all in class, yeah?" He then turned on his heel and stomped toward the building, gritting his teeth the whole way.

* * *

><p>Sasuke watched the blonde leave, the corners of his mouth pulled down into a frown. That hadn't at all been the reaction he'd been expecting. He'd expected a fight—or an argument at the very least. But all he'd gotten for his efforts was a smile and goodbye. His dark eyes narrowed slightly. Well, he was going to have to fix that, turn up the heat. A glance at his two comrades, Neji and Gaara, told him that they were both thinking the same thing. He jerked his head toward the school building, dark eyes full of silent meaning.<p>

"Let's go," he muttered.

"Hey, go easy on him, would ya?" Shikamaru asked, leaning back in his chair and allowing his head to loll over the back of it. "I kinda like this one."

Sasuke snorted. "I don't recall going easy on Gaara. Or Temari. Or Kankuro. So why should _he_"—he jabbed a thumb in the direction of the school, referring to Naruto—"be any different?"

"Touché."

With that, Sasuke pushed away from the table, donned his backpack, and trudged toward the school, Neji and Gaara trailing behind him.

* * *

><p>Naruto let out a strained breath as he cleared the front door of the building. He had wanted so badly to punch that arrogant ass in his jaw, but he knew that he couldn't; he'd promised Iruka that he wouldn't start any unnecessary trouble. However, he wasn't exactly sure what qualified as "necessary trouble," so he decided that avoiding it altogether was the wisest course of action. But he couldn't shake the sinking feeling in his gut. Something told him that that guy with the jet black hair was out to do absolutely nothing but cause trouble for him—both of the necessary <em>and<em> unnecessary variety.

He took another steadying breath before swiftly walking toward the front office. He and Iruka had come up here the previous day to pick up his schedule, but they had told him it wasn't quite ready due to his sudden arrival and to come get it the next day. He paused in the doorway, blinking in surprise as a familiar face glanced up at him from behind a book.

Sitting behind the long, curving desk was none other than Kakashi, his chair balanced on its hind legs and his feet propped up on the desk next to a rather tall pile of files and paperwork. His one visible eye scrunched up in the way that Naruto had learned to recognize as smiling. "Well, hello again, Naruto," he greeted, lowering his book and giving him a one-handed wave. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, um…I just…why are you here?" he stammered, feeling like a complete idiot as all he did was gape stupidly at the silvered haired man that was still grinning at him.

Kakashi looked as if he was about to say something but was cut of as a slightly curvaceous woman with short black hair stepped into the room from inside an office. She didn't seem surprised to see Kakashi there at all; she actually looked rather peeved and tired. "Is it really so hard to just go to your classroom in the morning, Kakashi?" she huffed as she cocked a hip and held a bundle of files to her chest.

Kakashi's face took on a faint shade of primrose. "Oops, looks like I got caught again." He dodged a smack aimed at his head and sauntered out the door. "See you guys later, Shizune, Naruto."

Shizune ran a hand through her hair, muttering something about grown men that acted like kids, before she noticed Naruto still standing there. "Oh, you must be here to get your schedule," she said cheerily, smiling warmly at him. She had dark, gentle eyes that gave off a maternal and protective aura, and Naruto wondered if she was the school nurse.

He nodded and watched as she began shuffling around in a plastic crate of papers. After a few seconds, she snatched a package of papers out of the mess with a triumphant "Aha!" and handed to him, a wide grin on her face. She then proceeded to explain what to expect of the teachers, students (the general majority, anyway), and any other people he might happen to run into on campus, showed him the map on the next page—she helpfully highlighted the best routes to his classes and showed him where his locker was located—and the emergency contact information that was due no later than Friday on the last couple pages. Once all of that was finished, she gave him a slightly awkward pat on the shoulder and told him to have a nice first day before disappearing into yet another office.

Naruto simply stared after her for a few moments and then decided that he should probably be getting to first period since he had nothing else to do. He glanced down at his schedule: Chemistry in room 204. He resisted the urge to groan. He absolutely detested anything of the scientific variety, as far as his education was concerned. Having it first period everyday was going to be a living hell. He fervently hoped that his teacher wasn't some douche bag.

He pushed heavily through the thick glass door and flipped to the page showing the map. He traced the route with his finger and then looked around survey his surroundings. Fortunately, the stairway he was standing near lead straight to his classroom. Smirking at his luck, he tucked the packet away in his backpack and made a beeline for the stairs.

However, he didn't get very far as a hand suddenly grabbed him by the collar of his navy blue military-style shirt and yanked him backwards. He bit his tongue to hold back a curse and tightened his grip on his bag. He had a feeling who this person was, and didn't even bother turning around. Geez, this guy just _had_ to be out to ruin him—and on his first day!

But apparently, this bastard didn't take to kindly to being ignored. Naruto was flung sharply around and had to stumble a bit to regain his balance. It was no surprise to him to see that black-haired guy from earlier standing before him—flanked by Neji and that redheaded guy, of course—but to see him scowling like the blond had stolen his last chocolate bar came as bit of a shock. What the hell did this guy have against him, anyway? They didn't even know each other's _name_, for Pete's sake!

The blond opened his mouth to make a snarky comment, but the other beat him to the punch.

"What's your name?" he demanded.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You know, you operate kind of backwards," he replied instead of answering the question.

The obsidian-haired boy simply raised a questioning brow, but didn't answer.

"You call me a loser, throw me out of a chair for no reason and _then_ you ask for my name? That doesn't really make any sense."

It was as if Naruto hadn't even spoken. "Are you going to tell me your name or not?"

The blond didn't even grace the insolent bastard with a reply. He turned and stomped up the stairs, an angry twitch to his pale brow. He was surprised and slightly disappointed when the pale boy simply let him go without a word, but the tingling sensation running across his skin told him that onyx eyes were watching his retreat until he was completely out of sight.

* * *

><p>The first bell rang, alerting all the students that it was time to enter the building, just as Naruto walked through the door to his Chemistry class. It seemed that the actual teacher hadn't yet made it to the classroom, but there was a man with round glasses and a head full of silver hair sitting in the smaller desk adjacent to the large oak one. He was currently tying his hair back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and he seemed to not have noticed Naruto standing awkwardly in the doorway. The name plate taped to his desk read <em>K. Yakushi<em>.

However, looks can be deceiving.

"Just sit wherever you want for now," the man said, causing the blond to jump as the voice shattered the semi-silence in the room.

Naruto quickly shuffled to the back of the class and plopped down in a seat, wanting to get as far away as possible from the strange man in the front. He didn't know what it was, but something about the silver-haired stranger made him uncomfortable.

As if sensing the teen's unease, the older male glanced up at him, a smirk tilting up a corner of his mouth. Something about that smirk seemed smug, almost mocking. Naruto couldn't tell for sure because of the glare cast across the man's glasses, obscuring his eyes from view. Either way, it filled him with the urge to punch him in the face, and it took a surprising amount of self-control to rein it in. But somehow he managed.

As the school began buzzing lethargically with the presence of unwilling teenagers, people started to slowly trickle into the classroom. Unfortunately, none of the students were anyone Naruto knew, which he immediately took note of with a small frown of disappointment. However, a little over half of them at least took a little interest in him; most of them even walked up and started a conversation, asking about where he came from, how he liked it here so far and other trivial things of that nature, but oddly, not one of them asked for his name. Of course, the teacher was surely going to call roll when class started, the blond still thought it was extremely strange that no one seemed to care enough to ask. He didn't dwell on it for too long, though. The less people that knew who he was, the longer he'd be able to blend in as a normal student.

The teacher finally sauntered in just seconds before the bell, ignoring the students who were still riled up from engaging conversations about various highlights of their summer vacations. Naruto's brow furrowed as he watched the teacher turn his back on his class and began writing on the whiteboard with quick, fluid movements. He hadn't gotten a good look at him because of all the bodies in the way, but he easily picked up on the fact that the teacher was quite tall with long, shiny ebony locks that hung just past his shoulder blades, and pale—deathly pale, like the guy was allergic to sunlight, or something. It made the blond's skin crawl just looking at it.

Apropos of nothing, the noise level in the classroom dropped dramatically—and that was putting it mildly. Naruto glanced around curiously, searching for the cause, as he knew for a fact that it had nothing to do with the teacher that was still studiously ignoring them. He found was he was looking for at the precise moment the teacher spoke.

"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Uchiha." The teacher's voice was slick, coy, and creepy, reminiscent of a snake, and he somehow knew who had walked in without even turning around. But that realization came later.

The only thing Naruto could focus on now was the teenager currently walking through the doorway. His jaw dropped to somewhere around his ankles as coal-black eyes zeroed in on him with keenness akin to a hawk. Fate really seemed to have it in for him today.

The pale boy that had been plaguing him all morning swiftly wove his way through the rows of lab tables, his eyes never once deviating from Naruto's. Naruto hadn't noticed just how…_handsome_ the guy was, but that truth came crashing down on him the moment they'd locked eyes. He'd realized before that the guy was handsome, but he now saw that he was gorgeous, ridiculously so and to a completely unfair degree.

Naruto was so dazed by the disconcerting epiphany that it took him a while to notice that everyone else was staring at the gorgeous male too. The group of girls sitting to his right let out a collective sigh of "Sasuke" and snapped him out of his trance like a bucket of ice water.

_Wait…so does EVERYONE react to him like that?_ Naruto thought to himself. A quick glance around the room confirmed that fact.

Sasuke Uchiha took a seat at the empty lab table in the far left corner of the room, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. He glanced at Naruto one last time and flashed a smirk, eyes smoldering with malicious intent.

Naruto felt heat flash across his skin, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention as his pulse sped exponentially. He hurriedly turned back to the front where the teacher had finally begun to introduce himself.

He hadn't even known Sasuke for an hour, and yet he already knew that guy was out to make his life a living hell.

* * *

><p>By lunchtime, Naruto was in a pretty good mood, but his stomach still quivered violently with nerves, fearing the appearance of Sasuke and his lackeys due the misery that was his first two classes. First of all, Sasuke had been giving him strange looks the first half of the class, which only escaladed to something worse when Professor Orochimaru had the <em>wonderful<em> idea of seating them in alphabetical order. Sasuke had then proceeded to steal one of his pencils and two of his pens, claiming he didn't have anything to write with. It was after this little incident that it was made obvious Professor Orochimaru shamelessly and blatantly picked favorites when all he did was smirk at Sasuke _after_ watching him commit thievery. Damn bastard. Naruto had never hated his last name—or a teacher—so much in his life.

And in second period, Naruto had the misfortune of having both Neji _and _Gaara in his world history class. Kurenai—Naruto thanked the heavens that she was the teacher—didn't sit them in alphabetical order, but Naruto wished she had when he was practically sandwiched in between them with only one other person on either side separating him from them. This was far from enough to keep them from throwing dirty looks and block erasers camouflaged by paper balls in his direction with deadly precision. Luckily, Kurenai quickly caught onto what they were doing and threatened to land them in detention if they didn't cut it out. Naruto could have hugged her.

Third period was by far the highlight of his morning. He was ecstatic when he walked in and saw both Kiba and Shikamaru sprawled lazily in two of the desks. They had both greeted him with wide grins and lobbed random questions at him that seemed to have almost no meaning or relation to each other. Things brightened even more when Kakashi swaggered into the classroom—ten minutes after the bell, mind you—with a book tucked securely into his back pocket. All he did was introduce himself and pass out the class syllabus before telling them they could do whatever they wanted for the rest of the hour-and-a-half-long period and promptly turning his attention to his book. Naruto had spent his English class playing Never Have I Ever with Kiba, Shikamaru, and some other kids whose names he forgot as soon as they spoke them. Shikamaru, despite his lazy, humble demeanor, lost. Badly.

He chatted with the brunet duo the entire way to the cafeteria. He found out that Shikamaru was a freaking genius, no exaggeration. They had somehow gotten on the topic of chess, and he began prattling off about his favorite strategies, least favorite strategies, and ones he didn't particularly like but had huge advantages. Kiba and Naruto had simply stared at him like he had been speaking French—which he was fluent in, by the way. Kiba had a liking for dogs of any kind that was on the verge of becoming obsessive. He insisted on going on and on about Akamaru, his adored puppy, and refused to stop until Shikamaru threatened to kill him in his sleep if he didn't shut up.

Once inside the cafeteria, Shikamaru, who had brought his lunch, declared that he was going to go claim them a table, and Naruto and Kiba set off to buy their lunch. The spiky-haired teens found themselves arguing over gaming systems, Naruto claiming Playstation 3 was superior, Kiba fighting for the Xbox 360. Their food was ordered and paid for, and they joined back up with Shikamaru at the table in the far corner of the room. Chouji and Shino had filtered in while Naruto and Kiba had been gone, and they greeted them cheerily before setting to work clearing their trays of food.

Lunch passed far too quickly in Naruto's opinion, and he was almost reluctant to go to PE. He'd heard that the coach was a real weirdo, and it was _not_ something he was looking forward to. He tugged the door open and cautiously stepped inside, his eyes zeroing in on a tall man that instantly reminded him of that guy he'd met yesterday with Neji. Naruto remembered his name was Lee. He was in the act of talking some poor kid to death and paid the other students no mind as they filed into the gym. The blond sniggered and turned to take his seat among the bleachers. He was in the process of stepping over the bottom level when his eyes drifted to the top and his stomach dropped to somewhere around his feet.

Leaning smugly against the wall were Sasuke, Gaara, and Neji, malicious smiles focused solely on him.

Gym class was going to be hell. Period.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know that was an awful place to stop, but I really want the gym scene to be in the next chapter. You'll see why when the next chapter is posted. ;) Yeah, I know it took a REALLY long time for this to get out, and I'm really sorry about that. I get so lazy when writing, especially with my short attention span. ^^; Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


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